Russia mourns ice hockey team air disaster

President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia has called for the rapid modernisation of
Russia’s aviation industry after the latest crash claimed the lives of 43
people including all but one of a leading ice hockey team.

A player for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and a flight crew member were in grave condition today, the only people to survive when a Russian-made chartered Yak-42 airplane crashed into the banks of the Volga River shortly after take-off on Wednesday.

Officials said pilot error was the most likely cause of the accident, though there were reports that one of the three engines on the 18-year-old aircraft failed, preventing it from gaining sufficient altitude.

The disaster threw a harsh light on the poor safety record of Russia and the former Soviet Republics, which has been attributed to ageing, poorly maintained aircraft, weak government controls, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality.

Mr Medvedev said the crash was a “shock for the entire country".

“We cannot go on like this,” he told senior officials after placing flowers at the crash site.

"The situation remains unfortunate. We need to create modern companies that will cover all of Russia, and the number of air companies must be radically reduced very quickly. The government has to take a very tough decision.”

The crash occurred on the eve of Mr Medvedev’s visit to Yaroslavl, a city 160 miles from Moscow, to address a political conference designed to tout Russia’s growing economic and political clout.

In a further coincidence, the Global Policy Forum - an initiative of the president - was held at Lokomotiv’s stadium.

Mr Medvedev’s gleaming convoy of limousines therefore arrived in view of fans who arrived throughout the day in their thousands on foot to pay tribute to their sporting heroes.

Some weeping heavily, fans left wreaths of flowers that piled several yards high at a stadium entrance, and reverentially laid shirts and scarves in the team’s red, white and blue.

"It’s a great loss, not only for this town but the whole country,” said Vitaly Galkin, 18, who used to train with the youth team. “It’s our team and the whole town is connected with it.”

"It is not a good sign,” he said, pointing to a string of deadly air crashes in the past months.

Two accidents occurred in the summer involving Tu-134 and An-24 jets that killed more than 50 people.

Inna Uvarova, 21, who clutched a heap of white roses, was more blunt, saying that the most painful thought was that Igor Levitin, the transport minister, and other top officials would - as always - escape punishment.

"In China, such ministers are shot dead,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “In our country, this cheat would not even face the sack,” she said, referring to Mr Levitin. “Why is this junk being used to fly people?" The Kremlin is often accused projecting an image of Russia as democratic, prosperous and modernizing, while beyond the capital in many rural areas the Soviet-era infrastructure is in tatters.

In his speech at the forum, Mr Medvedev said he wanted to turn Russia into a “modern, democratic state".

But continued reliance an airline industry based on domestically-produced aircraft - there are 100 Yak-42s in operation - could be a major impediment to those ambitions.

Sergei Rogov, director of the Moscow-based Institute for the USA and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: “Our aviation is in deep crisis. We’re losing our position on the world market.”

The accident was “a coincidence that makes us think about who we are and what our interests are", he added.